[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 158 (Wednesday, August 16, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47259-47260]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-13500]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVES


United States-Chile Free Trade Agreement: 2005 Annual Product 
Review and Tariff Determinations

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Tariff implementation.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the results of the 2005 annual product 
review and tariff determinations, regarding Chilean imports of certain 
fruits, vegetables and juices, set forth by the U.S.-Chile Free Trade 
Agreement (FTA). This review determines whether these tariff free 
products, imported during calendar year 2005, have exceeded conditions 
elaborated in the FTA thus requiring the U.S. to impose duties 
predetermined by its tariff phase-out schedule. The effective date for 
the resulting change in tariff treatment is October 1, 2006.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Andrew Stephens, Director of Bilateral 
Affairs at the Office of the United States Trade Representatives 
(USTR), 1724 F Street, NW., Washington, DC 20508, (202) 395-6127 or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The U.S.-Chile FTA authorizes the duty-free 
importation of designated products provided that import values do not 
meet or exceed conditions elaborated in Chapter 3, Annex 3.3 of the 
U.S. General Notes under Note 17 and 18. The conditions are met when 
products exceed fifty percent of total U.S imports for that specific 
tariff line or the value of imports from Chile for a specific tariff 
line exceeds $110 million. If either condition is met, the applied 
preferential rate shall revert to duties set forth according to the 
staging categories in the Chapter 3, Annex 3.3 of the FTA Text. The 
specific products for which these conditions apply and the location of 
the tariff can be found in Chapter 99, Note 19 and 20 of the 2006 U.S. 
Harmonized Tariff Schedule. These products include cucumbers, gherkins, 
strawberries, blackberries, mulberries, currants, peppers, vegetable 
mixes, certain parts of plants, apple puree, quince puree and pear 
puree, apricot pulp and certain fruit and vegetable juices.
    Since implementation of the U.S.-Chile FTA in 2004, the U.S. Trade 
Representative's Office has monitored Chilean imports to ensure that 
the provisions of the FTA have been implemented correctly. The review 
of imports made during the calendar year 2005 found that total U.S. 
imports of apple, quince and pear pastes and purees (HTS 2007.99.4800) 
equaled $2.2 million and imports from Chile accounted for more than 
$1.2 million of that total. Thus total Chilean imports accounted for 54 
percent of the total, exceeding the aforementioned conditions allowed 
for immediate duty-free imports under U.S.-Chile FTA provisions.
    Accordingly, the tariff treatment set forth in subheading 
9911.77.11 for goods of Chile, under the terms of general note 26 to 
the HTS, is deleted, effective with respect to goods that are entered, 
or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after October 1, 
2006, and the rate of duty set forth in subheading 9911.77.12, together 
with scheduled staged reductions thereof, shall apply to eligible 
entries of the subject goods as of October 1, 2006.

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                 Product                   Column A  HTS   Column B  HTS
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Apple, quince and pear pastes and purees      2007.99.48      9911.77.11

[[Page 47260]]

 
This now becomes:.......................  ..............      9911.77.12
And the applicable duty becomes: 7.5%...  ..............  ..............
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Susan C. Schwab,
United States Trade Representative.
 [FR Doc. E6-13500 Filed 8-15-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-W6-P